Journal of Health Communication International Perspectives
ISSN: 1081-0730 (Print) 1087-0415 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uhcm20
The Influence of Parental Communication and Perception of Peers on Adolescent Sexual Behavior Carl D. Sneed, Huey Peing Tan & Jacob C. Meyer To cite this article: Carl D. Sneed, Huey Peing Tan & Jacob C. Meyer (2015) The Influence of Parental Communication and Perception of Peers on Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Journal of Health Communication, 20:8, 888-892, DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018584 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1018584
Published online: 07 May 2015.
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Date: 06 November 2015, At: 13:04
Journal of Health Communication, 20:888–892, 2015 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1081-0730 print/1087-0415 online DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018584
The Influence of Parental Communication and Perception of Peers on Adolescent Sexual Behavior CARL D. SNEED, HUEY PEING TAN, and JACOB C. MEYER
Downloaded by [Florida Atlantic University] at 13:04 06 November 2015
Department of Psychology, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California, USA
The authors used the theory of planned behavior to examine the influence of parents and peers on early adolescent sexual attitudes, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse. Adolescents (N ¼ 212) provided self-reports of their perception of parent and peer attitudes regarding sexual behavior. The authors used bivariate and regression analyses to examine the relation between parent and peer attitudes with adolescent sexual attitudes, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse. Although there were gender differences, the analyses revealed the importance of both parents and peers on adolescent sexual attitudes, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and intentions to have vaginal sex in the next year.
Parent and peer attitudes and behavior play an important role in the development of sexual attitudes and behavior among early adolescents. Parents convey their attitudes about sex to their children through parent–child sex communication (PCSC). The relation between PCSC and adolescent sexual behavior has been extensively studied (DiIorio, Pluhar, & Belcher, 2003). Studies have found that children who communicate with their parents about sexual issues are less likely to be sexually experienced (Fasula & Miller, 2006; Sneed, 2008). Among sexually active adolescents, PCSC may be associated with the increased likelihood of condom use during intercourse (Harris, Sutherland, & Hutchinson, 2013; Hutchinson, 2002). It is important to note that the content of discussions during PCSC may affect adolescent sexual behavior. For example, messages from parents to remain abstinent during PCSC are associated with delay of sexual debut (Aspy et al., 2007; Dittus & Jaccard, 2000). Peers may influence adolescent sexual behavior through direct modeling of sexual behavior and the adolescent’s perception of peer attitudes toward sex. Adolescents with peers who have dated and who are sexually active are more likely to have behavioral intentions to engage in precoital sexual behavior or sexual activity (Wallace, Miller, & Forehand, 2008). Female adolescents with peers who engage in risky sexual behavior (i.e., having multiple sex partners and engaging in sexual intercourse without using condoms) are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior (Bachanas et al., 2002). A systematic review of 69 peer-reviewed articles on adolescent sexual behavior and intentions found perceived peer norms to be an important predictor of adolescent sexual Address correspondence to Carl D. Sneed, Department of Psychology, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 1000 East Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90047, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
behavior (Buhi & Goodson, 2007). According to studies summarized in the review, peer norms influence intentions to have sex, early sexual debut, and subsequent sexual behavior. Perception of negative peer attitudes toward sex influences: abstinence, intentions to remain abstinent, delay of sexual debut, fewer episodes of sexual intercourse, and fewer sex partners. Research has found that children also discuss sex with their peers (Kapungu et al., 2010). These peer-to-peer conversations may also help adolescents form their perception of peer attitudes toward sexual behavior. The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) provides a framework for understanding the role of parents and peers on adolescent sexual behavior. The theory incorporates constructs relevant to the role of parents and peers (important others) on adolescent sexual behavior. According to the theory, subjective norms (beliefs held by important others in the view of the individual), attitudes (the individual’s attitude toward engaging in the behavior) are proximal causes of behavioral intentions and behavioral intentions are proximal causes of behaviors. The theory states that the individual’s perception of the attitudes and behavior held by parents and peers may be used to represent subjective norms. For adolescents, subjective norms of parents are formed through PCSC. Adolescents may form perception of parent attitudes about sex through conversations in which parents convey their opinion of sexual behavior. Perception of peer subjective norms may be formed through observation of peer sexual behavior as well as child–peer conversations about sex. The theory includes perceived behavioral control. According to the theory, the behavior is most likely to take place when the behavior is under volitional control of the individual. Self-efficacy is a construct that is similar in functional terms to perceived behavioral control. Adolescent self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior can serve as a proxy for perceived behavioral control to limit sexual behavior.
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Adolescent Sexual Behavior This study aimed to examine the role of parents and peers in early adolescent self-report of attitudes toward abstinence, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and behavioral intentions to have vaginal sex. Thus, the analytical plan typically used to examine the constructs from the theory of planned behavior has been modified. The theory states that subjective norms (i.e., parents and peer) and attitudes (adolescent attitudes about sex) are entered as predictors of adolescent behavioral intentions to have sex and sexual behavior (see Ajzen, 1991). For the purposes of this study, the role of parents and peers on adolescent attitudes toward abstinence, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and sexual behavioral intentions were examined. Prior research has examined the role of parents and peers on adolescent sexual behavior (Maguen & Armistead, 2006). This study examines the relative influence of parents and peers on adolescent attitudes toward sex, their self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior as well as their behavioral intentions to engage in sexual intercourse. This study is unique in that it incorporates topics discussed during parent–child sex communication as a measure of parent attitudes toward sex. Specifically, selfreport of being told by parents to not engage in sexual behavior was used as a measure for parental attitudes toward sex.
Method Participants Adolescents between the ages of 11 to 16 years (M ¼ 13.94, SD ¼ 1.24) were recruited from youth service organizations in Southern California (N ¼ 212, 50% female). The ethnic background of the participants was as follows: 38.9% Black, 28.9% Latino, 19.9% Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.7% Biracial, 4.3% White, and 3.3% other. Approval for this study was obtained from the institutional review board at the University of California, Los Angeles. Procedure A research interest approached participants to take part in what was referred to as a health and behavior research project. The research assistant followed up with the parent= guardian of the potential participant to obtain active informed consent. After parental consent was obtained, the participant was scheduled to complete a self-administered paper-andpencil survey at a local community based organization. Before completing the survey, signed informed consent was also obtained from the participant. The survey took approximately 45 min to complete. Each participant was reimbursed US$20 and given a movie ticket for taking part in the study. Measures Demographic Data Respondents were asked to report their gender, and ethnicity. Perceived Parent Attitudes Toward Sex Four items were used to assess parent attitudes toward sex. For the first two items, the participants were given the following prompt:
889 Imagine that you have decided not to have sexual intercourse with anyone at this time of your life. How likely are the following? ‘‘My mother would be proud of me.’’ ‘‘My father would be proud of me.’’
Response categories for the items included the following: very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely, and not likely. Internal consistency of the items was .77. For the second two items, the participants were asked, ‘‘If these people did not want you to have sex, how much would you care?’’ ‘‘Your mother’’ and ‘‘Your father.’’ The response categories for the items included the following: not at all, slightly, moderately, and very much. Internal consistency of the items was .84. Participants were asked to self-report on 14 topics that were discussed when they talked to their parents about sex (yes=no). Two questions were selected to examine the adolescent’s perception of parent attitudes toward sex: ‘‘I was informed that I shouldn’t engage in any sexual behavior.’’ and ‘‘I was told that I should wait to have sex until I was married.’’ Perception of Attitudes Toward Sex and Peer Sexual Behavior We used three items to assess the participant’s perception of peer attitudes toward sex: For the first two items, ‘‘My friends think it’s weird if a boy my age has never had vaginal intercourse’’ and ‘‘My friends think it’s weird if a girl my age has never had vaginal intercourse,’’ participants responded on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). For the third item, ‘‘My friends would think I’m being ridiculous (if I decided not to have sex with anyone at this time in my life),’’ participants responded on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (very likely) to 4 (not likely). Items were summed to create a single scale for peer attitudes (a ¼ .69). Higher scores on the scale were associated with attitudes that supported limiting sexual behavior. To assess perception of peer sexual behavior, we asked participants, ‘‘How many of your friends have had sexual intercourse.’’ Participants responded on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (none) to 5 (all). Participant Attitudes Toward Sex We used nine items to assess participants’ attitudes toward sex. Examples of items were as follows: ‘‘I don’t like abstaining from sex,’’ ‘‘Kids my age who abstain from sex are very responsible,’’ and ‘‘You can still be affectionate with a boyfriend or a girlfriend even if you abstain from sex.’’ Internal consistency of the items was .68. Self-Efficacy to Limit Sexual Behavior We used 10 items to assess the participants’ self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, such as ‘‘I would feel embarrassed to discuss how far I would go sexually with my partner,’’ ‘‘I feel confident in my ability to control how far I would go sexually with my partner,’’ and ‘‘I feel confident that I could persuade a partner not to go any further than I wanted to go sexually.’’ Participants responded on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Internal consistency of the scale was .77.
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C. D. Sneed et al.
Sexual Behavioral Intentions We asked participants whether they intended to engage in vaginal intercourse in the next 12 months (yes=no).
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Results The correlations between perceived parent and peer attitudes toward sex with adolescent attitudes toward sex, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and sexual behavioral intentions are presented in Table 1. Separate analyses are shown for male and female participants. For adolescent boys, attitudes toward sex were correlated with their self-report of perceived parental pride in them for remaining abstinent (r ¼ .23, p < .05), being told by their parent to wait to have sex until married (r ¼ .26, p < .01), and their perception of peer attitudes toward sex (r ¼ .46, p < .01). Boys who believed that their parents would be proud of them if they remained abstinent and self-reported that they were told to wait until after marriage to have sex, held more negative attitudes toward sex. Boys who believed that their peers held negative attitudes toward sex also held negative attitudes toward sex. For girls, attitudes toward sex were positively correlated with perception of their parent’s caring (r ¼ .26, p < .01) and pride (r ¼ .42, p < .01) about their child remaining abstinent, being informed that they should not engage in any sexual behavior (r ¼ .27, p < .01), and their perception of peer attitudes toward sex (r ¼ .51, p < .01). Adolescent girls held more negative attitudes toward sex when they believed that their parents would be proud and cared that they remained abstinent and self-reported being told by parents not to engage in any sexual behavior. Girls also held more negative attitudes toward sex when they believed that their peers held negative attitudes toward sex. For both genders, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior was correlated with their perception that their parents would be proud of them if they remained abstinent and peer attitudes toward sex. Adolescents who believed their parents would be proud of them if they remained abstinent and believed their peers held negative attitudes toward sex had higher self-efficacy to limit their sexual behavior. For boys, behavioral intentions to engage in vaginal intercourse was associated with their self-report of being told by
parents that they should wait until after marriage to have sex (r ¼ .34, p < .01), their perception of peer attitudes toward sex (r ¼ .37, p < .01), and their self-report on the number of their peers that have had vaginal intercourse (r ¼ .25, p < .05). Boys who reported being told to wait until marriage to have sex believed that their peers held more negative attitudes toward sex and believed that most of their peers had not had vaginal intercourse; these adolescents were more likely to report that they did not intend to have sex in the next year. Girls who believed that their parents cared whether they remained abstinent were less likely to intend to have vaginal sex (r ¼ .30, p < .01). Parent and Peer Factors as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Sex We used stepwise multiple regression to examine parent and peer factors as predictors of adolescent attitudes toward sex. We carried out separate analyses for boys and girls. The same variables remained as predictors for both genders. For both genders, peer norms (male: b ¼ 39, female: b ¼ .44), perception of parental pride (male: b ¼ .23, female: b ¼ .31), and being told to wait until marriage to have sex (male: b ¼ .20, female: b ¼ .19) remained as predictors in the model. The model accounted for 28% and 38% of the variance in attitudes toward sex for boys and girls, respectively. Parent and Peer Factors as Predictors of Self-Efficacy to Limit Sexual Behavior We used stepwise multiple regression to examine parent and peer factors as predictors of adolescent self-report to limit sexual behavior. We carried out separate analyses for boys and girls. For boys, only peer norms (b ¼ .23) remained as a predictor of self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior. The model accounted for 5% of the variance for self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior. For girls, peer norms (b ¼ .36) and perception of parental pride (b ¼ .31) remained as predictors of self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior. The model accounted for 27% of the variance in self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior.
Table 1. Correlations between parent and peer attitudes toward sex with adolescent outcomes Attitudes toward sex
Parents care about abstinence Parents proud of abstinence I was informed that I shouldn’t engage in any sexual behavior. I was told that I should wait to have sex until I was married. Peer attitudes toward sex. How many of your friends have had sexual intercourse? a b
p < .05. p < .01.
Self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior
Sexual behavioral intentions
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
.11 .23a .02
.26b .42b .27b
.00 .21a .01
.09 .45b .14
.07 .05 .00
.30 .06 .13
.26b
.09
.09
.11
.46b .18
.51b .05
.22a .03
.37b .06
.34b
.20
.37b .25a
.15 .05
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Adolescent Sexual Behavior Parent and Peer Factors as Predictors of Sexual Behavioral Intentions We entered parent and peer factors into a multivariate logistic regression analysis with sexual behavioral intentions as the outcome. We carried out separate analyses for boys and girls. For boys, peer norms (OR ¼ .46, p < .01) and self-report of being told to wait until marriage (OR ¼ .28, p < .05) to have sex was significantly associated with sexual behavioral intentions. For girls, none of the variables were significantly related to sexual behavioral intentions.
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Adolescent Attitudes Toward Sex and Self-Efficacy to Limit Sexual Behavior as Predictors of Intention to Have Vaginal Sex We entered attitudes toward sex and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior into a multivariate logistic regression with intentions to have vaginal sex in the next year. For both genders, attitudes toward sex (boys: OR ¼ .17, girls: OR ¼ .06, both ps < .001) and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior (boys: OR ¼ 2.35, girls: OR ¼ 3.07, both ps < .05) significantly predicted intentions to have sex. To examine the influence of attitudes and self-efficacy on intentions to have sex above that of parent and peer attitude variables, we carried out the analysis a second time, with parent and peer attitudes entered in the first step of a hierarchical multivariate logistic regression. For boys, attitudes toward sex (OR ¼ .23, p < .01) and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior (OR ¼ 2.56, p < .05) remained as predictors of intentions to have sex after controlling for parent and peer attitude variables. For girls, their perception of whether their parents cared whether they remained abstinent was a significant covariate in the analysis. Only attitudes toward sex (OR ¼ .11, p < .01) remained as a significant predictor of intentions to have sex for girls.
Discussion Using constructs from the theory of planned behavior, this study examined the relative influence of parents and peers on adolescent attitudes toward sex, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior and behavioral intentions to have sex. The theory posits that subjective norms (perception of beliefs held by important others) and attitudes (individual held opinions of the behavior) are proximal causes of behavioral intentions, and behavioral intentions are proximal causes of behavioral outcomes. Adolescent subjective norms for parent and peer attitude were assessed. Adolescent selfreport of parental pride and caring for remaining abstinent and adolescent report of being told not to engage in any sexual behavior or waiting to have sex after marriage during parent–child sex communication were conceptualized as parental subjective norms. Adolescent self-report of their friend’s attitude toward sex and their perception of the number of their friends that have had intercourse were conceptualized as peer subjective norms. The individual’s propensity to engage in a behavior is either enhanced or hindered by their perception of their ability to control their
behavior (perceived behavioral control). Self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior served as a proxy for perceived behavioral control. Examining the relationships of the variables within the context of the theory of planned behavior provides several different insights on the sexual socialization process as well as interventions to improve sexual outcomes of adolescents. The Role of Parent and Peer Subjective Norms on Attitudes Toward Sex Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed that subjective norms of parents and peers are related to adolescent attitudes toward sex. In the present study, two topics discussed during parent–child sex communication as indicators of parental subjective norms were examined. There were gender differences based on the topic discussed. For girls, discussion with parents on ‘‘not to engage in any sexual behavior’’ was associated with less positive attitudes toward having sex. For boys, discussion of ‘‘wait to have sex until married’’ was associated with less positive attitudes toward having sex. The differences in the relations for these variables may be based on the parental sexual socialization that focuses on abstinence for girls. For example, research has found that a larger percentage of girls have discussed topics related to remaining abstinent during parent–child sex communication (Sneed et al., 2013). Multivariate analysis found that being to ‘‘wait to have sex until married to have’’ remained as a predictor of attitudes toward sex for both genders. In addition, direct messages parents to remain abstinent or limit sexual behavior are associated with a lower chance that the adolescent is sexually experienced (Aspy et al., 2007; Hovell et al., 1994; Sneed, 2008). The analyses revealed stronger relations between the perceptions of peer attitudes on adolescent attitudes toward sex than that of parents. This study examined indicators of peer subjective norms through observation of peer sexual behavior and child–peer conversations about sex. On the basis of the topics discussed, peer attitudes toward sex were directly related to engagement in risky sexual behaviors in both genders in the present study. For both genders, perception of negative peer attitudes toward sex influences was associated with attitudes toward sex. These negative perceptions include abstinence, intentions to remain abstinent, delay of sexual debut, fewer episodes of sexual intercourse, and fewer sex partners. There were no gender differences based on the topics discussed. Both boys and girls who believed their peers held negative attitudes toward sex also held negative attitudes toward sex. Behavioral Intentions to Have Vaginal Intercourse For both genders, analyses revealed that self-efficacy in limiting sexual behavior and their attitudes toward sex were predictors of behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse in the next year. As noted earlier, self-efficacy was used as a proxy for perceived behavioral control from the theory of planned behavior. These findings provide support for the importance of perceived behavioral control in the
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theory of planned behavior. Further analyses were carried out with adolescent subjective norms of parents and peer attitude toward sex. For boys, the findings did not change; male attitudes toward sex and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior remained as predictors of behavioral intentions to have sex. Thus, the findings for boys are inconclusive on determining whether parents or peers play a more important role in influencing male decisions to have vaginal intercourse. For girls, the analysis revealed that their perception of what their parents thought about their sexual behavior remained as a significant covariate, where as their perception of the peers attitudes toward sex did not. This finding seems to indicate that parents may play a more important role than that of peers in female adolescent behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse. Limitations Several limitations need to be taken into consideration in evaluating the results of this study. First, this study was cross-sectional and thus cause-and-effect relations are hard to discern. Second, we useed adolescent self-reports to assess all variables; therefore, it is hard to determine whether adolescents’ perceptions of parents and peers are accurate. Third, participants in this study were solicited from youth service organizations in southern California, and this population may not be representative of all adolescents. Thus, it is not known whether these findings are generalizable to youth in alternative settings.
Funding This research was supported by funds from the University wide AIDS Research Program of the University of California, Grant# KOO-LA-079.
References Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211. Aspy, C. B., Vesely, S. K., Oman, R. F., Rodine, S., Marshall, L., & McLeroy, K. (2007). Parental communication and youth sexual behaviour. Journal of Adolescence, 30, 449–466. Bachanas, P. J., Morris, M. K., Lewis-Gess, J. K., Sarett-Cuasay, E. J., Flores, A. L., Sirl, K. S., & Sawyer, M. K. (2002). Psychological
C. D. Sneed et al. adjustment, substance use, HIV knowledge, and risky sexual behavior in at-risk minority females: Developmental differences during adolescence. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27, 373–384. Buhi, E. R., & Goodson, P. (2007). Predictors of adolescent sexual behavior and intention: A theory-guided systematic review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40, 4–21. DiIorio, C., Pluhar, E., & Belcher, L. (2003). Parent–child communication about sexuality. Journal of HIV=AIDS Prevention & Education for Adolescents & Children, 5, 7–32. Dittus, P., & Jaccard, J. (2000). Adolescents’ perceptions of maternal disapproval of sex: Relationships to sexual outcomes. Journal of Adolescent Health, 26, 268–278. Dutra, R., Miller, K. S., & Forehand, R. (1999). The process and content of sexual communication with adolescents in two-parent families: Associations with sexual risk-taking behavior. AIDS & Behavior, 3, 59–66. Fasula, A. M., & Miller, K. S. (2006). African-American and Hispanic adolescents’ intentions to delay first intercourse: Parental communication as a buffer for sexually active peers. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38, 193–200. Harris, A. L., Sutherland, M. A., & Hutchinson, M. (2013). Parental influences of sexual risk among urban African American adolescent males. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 45, 141–150. Hovell, M., Hillman, E., Blumberg, E., & Sipan, C. (1994). A behavioral-ecological model of adolescent sexual development: A template for AIDS prevention. Journal of Sex Research, 31, 267–281. Hutchinson, M. (2002). The influence of sexual risk communication between parents and daughters on sexual risk behaviors. Family Relations: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 51, 238–247. Kapungu, C., Baptiste, D., Holmbeck, G., Mcbride, C., RobinsonBrown, M., Sturdivant, A., . . . Paikoff, R. (2010). Beyond the ‘birds and the bees’: Gender differences in sex-related communication among urban African American adolescents. Family Process, 49, 251–264. Maguen, S., & Armistead, L. (2006). Abstinence among female adolescents: do parents matter above and beyond the influence of peers? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 260–264. Sneed, C. D. (2008). Parent–adolescent communication about sex: The impact of content and comfort on adolescent sexual behavior. Journal of HIV=AIDS Prevention in Children & Youth, 9, 70–82. Sneed, C. D., Somoza, C. G., Taurean, J., & Alfaro, S. (2013). Topics discussed with mothers and fathers for parent–child sex communication among African American adolescents. Journal of Sex Education: Sexuality, Society, and Learning, 13, 450–458 Wallace, S. A., Miller, K. S., & Forehand, R. (2008). Perceived peer norms and sexual intentions among African American preadolescents. AIDS Education & Prevention, 20, 360–369.
ISSN: 1081-0730 (Print) 1087-0415 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uhcm20
The Influence of Parental Communication and Perception of Peers on Adolescent Sexual Behavior Carl D. Sneed, Huey Peing Tan & Jacob C. Meyer To cite this article: Carl D. Sneed, Huey Peing Tan & Jacob C. Meyer (2015) The Influence of Parental Communication and Perception of Peers on Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Journal of Health Communication, 20:8, 888-892, DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018584 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1018584
Published online: 07 May 2015.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 336
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Citing articles: 1 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uhcm20 Download by: [Florida Atlantic University]
Date: 06 November 2015, At: 13:04
Journal of Health Communication, 20:888–892, 2015 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1081-0730 print/1087-0415 online DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018584
The Influence of Parental Communication and Perception of Peers on Adolescent Sexual Behavior CARL D. SNEED, HUEY PEING TAN, and JACOB C. MEYER
Downloaded by [Florida Atlantic University] at 13:04 06 November 2015
Department of Psychology, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California, USA
The authors used the theory of planned behavior to examine the influence of parents and peers on early adolescent sexual attitudes, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse. Adolescents (N ¼ 212) provided self-reports of their perception of parent and peer attitudes regarding sexual behavior. The authors used bivariate and regression analyses to examine the relation between parent and peer attitudes with adolescent sexual attitudes, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse. Although there were gender differences, the analyses revealed the importance of both parents and peers on adolescent sexual attitudes, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and intentions to have vaginal sex in the next year.
Parent and peer attitudes and behavior play an important role in the development of sexual attitudes and behavior among early adolescents. Parents convey their attitudes about sex to their children through parent–child sex communication (PCSC). The relation between PCSC and adolescent sexual behavior has been extensively studied (DiIorio, Pluhar, & Belcher, 2003). Studies have found that children who communicate with their parents about sexual issues are less likely to be sexually experienced (Fasula & Miller, 2006; Sneed, 2008). Among sexually active adolescents, PCSC may be associated with the increased likelihood of condom use during intercourse (Harris, Sutherland, & Hutchinson, 2013; Hutchinson, 2002). It is important to note that the content of discussions during PCSC may affect adolescent sexual behavior. For example, messages from parents to remain abstinent during PCSC are associated with delay of sexual debut (Aspy et al., 2007; Dittus & Jaccard, 2000). Peers may influence adolescent sexual behavior through direct modeling of sexual behavior and the adolescent’s perception of peer attitudes toward sex. Adolescents with peers who have dated and who are sexually active are more likely to have behavioral intentions to engage in precoital sexual behavior or sexual activity (Wallace, Miller, & Forehand, 2008). Female adolescents with peers who engage in risky sexual behavior (i.e., having multiple sex partners and engaging in sexual intercourse without using condoms) are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior (Bachanas et al., 2002). A systematic review of 69 peer-reviewed articles on adolescent sexual behavior and intentions found perceived peer norms to be an important predictor of adolescent sexual Address correspondence to Carl D. Sneed, Department of Psychology, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 1000 East Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90047, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
behavior (Buhi & Goodson, 2007). According to studies summarized in the review, peer norms influence intentions to have sex, early sexual debut, and subsequent sexual behavior. Perception of negative peer attitudes toward sex influences: abstinence, intentions to remain abstinent, delay of sexual debut, fewer episodes of sexual intercourse, and fewer sex partners. Research has found that children also discuss sex with their peers (Kapungu et al., 2010). These peer-to-peer conversations may also help adolescents form their perception of peer attitudes toward sexual behavior. The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) provides a framework for understanding the role of parents and peers on adolescent sexual behavior. The theory incorporates constructs relevant to the role of parents and peers (important others) on adolescent sexual behavior. According to the theory, subjective norms (beliefs held by important others in the view of the individual), attitudes (the individual’s attitude toward engaging in the behavior) are proximal causes of behavioral intentions and behavioral intentions are proximal causes of behaviors. The theory states that the individual’s perception of the attitudes and behavior held by parents and peers may be used to represent subjective norms. For adolescents, subjective norms of parents are formed through PCSC. Adolescents may form perception of parent attitudes about sex through conversations in which parents convey their opinion of sexual behavior. Perception of peer subjective norms may be formed through observation of peer sexual behavior as well as child–peer conversations about sex. The theory includes perceived behavioral control. According to the theory, the behavior is most likely to take place when the behavior is under volitional control of the individual. Self-efficacy is a construct that is similar in functional terms to perceived behavioral control. Adolescent self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior can serve as a proxy for perceived behavioral control to limit sexual behavior.
Downloaded by [Florida Atlantic University] at 13:04 06 November 2015
Adolescent Sexual Behavior This study aimed to examine the role of parents and peers in early adolescent self-report of attitudes toward abstinence, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and behavioral intentions to have vaginal sex. Thus, the analytical plan typically used to examine the constructs from the theory of planned behavior has been modified. The theory states that subjective norms (i.e., parents and peer) and attitudes (adolescent attitudes about sex) are entered as predictors of adolescent behavioral intentions to have sex and sexual behavior (see Ajzen, 1991). For the purposes of this study, the role of parents and peers on adolescent attitudes toward abstinence, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and sexual behavioral intentions were examined. Prior research has examined the role of parents and peers on adolescent sexual behavior (Maguen & Armistead, 2006). This study examines the relative influence of parents and peers on adolescent attitudes toward sex, their self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior as well as their behavioral intentions to engage in sexual intercourse. This study is unique in that it incorporates topics discussed during parent–child sex communication as a measure of parent attitudes toward sex. Specifically, selfreport of being told by parents to not engage in sexual behavior was used as a measure for parental attitudes toward sex.
Method Participants Adolescents between the ages of 11 to 16 years (M ¼ 13.94, SD ¼ 1.24) were recruited from youth service organizations in Southern California (N ¼ 212, 50% female). The ethnic background of the participants was as follows: 38.9% Black, 28.9% Latino, 19.9% Asian and Pacific Islander, 4.7% Biracial, 4.3% White, and 3.3% other. Approval for this study was obtained from the institutional review board at the University of California, Los Angeles. Procedure A research interest approached participants to take part in what was referred to as a health and behavior research project. The research assistant followed up with the parent= guardian of the potential participant to obtain active informed consent. After parental consent was obtained, the participant was scheduled to complete a self-administered paper-andpencil survey at a local community based organization. Before completing the survey, signed informed consent was also obtained from the participant. The survey took approximately 45 min to complete. Each participant was reimbursed US$20 and given a movie ticket for taking part in the study. Measures Demographic Data Respondents were asked to report their gender, and ethnicity. Perceived Parent Attitudes Toward Sex Four items were used to assess parent attitudes toward sex. For the first two items, the participants were given the following prompt:
889 Imagine that you have decided not to have sexual intercourse with anyone at this time of your life. How likely are the following? ‘‘My mother would be proud of me.’’ ‘‘My father would be proud of me.’’
Response categories for the items included the following: very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely, and not likely. Internal consistency of the items was .77. For the second two items, the participants were asked, ‘‘If these people did not want you to have sex, how much would you care?’’ ‘‘Your mother’’ and ‘‘Your father.’’ The response categories for the items included the following: not at all, slightly, moderately, and very much. Internal consistency of the items was .84. Participants were asked to self-report on 14 topics that were discussed when they talked to their parents about sex (yes=no). Two questions were selected to examine the adolescent’s perception of parent attitudes toward sex: ‘‘I was informed that I shouldn’t engage in any sexual behavior.’’ and ‘‘I was told that I should wait to have sex until I was married.’’ Perception of Attitudes Toward Sex and Peer Sexual Behavior We used three items to assess the participant’s perception of peer attitudes toward sex: For the first two items, ‘‘My friends think it’s weird if a boy my age has never had vaginal intercourse’’ and ‘‘My friends think it’s weird if a girl my age has never had vaginal intercourse,’’ participants responded on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). For the third item, ‘‘My friends would think I’m being ridiculous (if I decided not to have sex with anyone at this time in my life),’’ participants responded on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (very likely) to 4 (not likely). Items were summed to create a single scale for peer attitudes (a ¼ .69). Higher scores on the scale were associated with attitudes that supported limiting sexual behavior. To assess perception of peer sexual behavior, we asked participants, ‘‘How many of your friends have had sexual intercourse.’’ Participants responded on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (none) to 5 (all). Participant Attitudes Toward Sex We used nine items to assess participants’ attitudes toward sex. Examples of items were as follows: ‘‘I don’t like abstaining from sex,’’ ‘‘Kids my age who abstain from sex are very responsible,’’ and ‘‘You can still be affectionate with a boyfriend or a girlfriend even if you abstain from sex.’’ Internal consistency of the items was .68. Self-Efficacy to Limit Sexual Behavior We used 10 items to assess the participants’ self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, such as ‘‘I would feel embarrassed to discuss how far I would go sexually with my partner,’’ ‘‘I feel confident in my ability to control how far I would go sexually with my partner,’’ and ‘‘I feel confident that I could persuade a partner not to go any further than I wanted to go sexually.’’ Participants responded on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Internal consistency of the scale was .77.
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Sexual Behavioral Intentions We asked participants whether they intended to engage in vaginal intercourse in the next 12 months (yes=no).
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Results The correlations between perceived parent and peer attitudes toward sex with adolescent attitudes toward sex, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior, and sexual behavioral intentions are presented in Table 1. Separate analyses are shown for male and female participants. For adolescent boys, attitudes toward sex were correlated with their self-report of perceived parental pride in them for remaining abstinent (r ¼ .23, p < .05), being told by their parent to wait to have sex until married (r ¼ .26, p < .01), and their perception of peer attitudes toward sex (r ¼ .46, p < .01). Boys who believed that their parents would be proud of them if they remained abstinent and self-reported that they were told to wait until after marriage to have sex, held more negative attitudes toward sex. Boys who believed that their peers held negative attitudes toward sex also held negative attitudes toward sex. For girls, attitudes toward sex were positively correlated with perception of their parent’s caring (r ¼ .26, p < .01) and pride (r ¼ .42, p < .01) about their child remaining abstinent, being informed that they should not engage in any sexual behavior (r ¼ .27, p < .01), and their perception of peer attitudes toward sex (r ¼ .51, p < .01). Adolescent girls held more negative attitudes toward sex when they believed that their parents would be proud and cared that they remained abstinent and self-reported being told by parents not to engage in any sexual behavior. Girls also held more negative attitudes toward sex when they believed that their peers held negative attitudes toward sex. For both genders, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior was correlated with their perception that their parents would be proud of them if they remained abstinent and peer attitudes toward sex. Adolescents who believed their parents would be proud of them if they remained abstinent and believed their peers held negative attitudes toward sex had higher self-efficacy to limit their sexual behavior. For boys, behavioral intentions to engage in vaginal intercourse was associated with their self-report of being told by
parents that they should wait until after marriage to have sex (r ¼ .34, p < .01), their perception of peer attitudes toward sex (r ¼ .37, p < .01), and their self-report on the number of their peers that have had vaginal intercourse (r ¼ .25, p < .05). Boys who reported being told to wait until marriage to have sex believed that their peers held more negative attitudes toward sex and believed that most of their peers had not had vaginal intercourse; these adolescents were more likely to report that they did not intend to have sex in the next year. Girls who believed that their parents cared whether they remained abstinent were less likely to intend to have vaginal sex (r ¼ .30, p < .01). Parent and Peer Factors as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Sex We used stepwise multiple regression to examine parent and peer factors as predictors of adolescent attitudes toward sex. We carried out separate analyses for boys and girls. The same variables remained as predictors for both genders. For both genders, peer norms (male: b ¼ 39, female: b ¼ .44), perception of parental pride (male: b ¼ .23, female: b ¼ .31), and being told to wait until marriage to have sex (male: b ¼ .20, female: b ¼ .19) remained as predictors in the model. The model accounted for 28% and 38% of the variance in attitudes toward sex for boys and girls, respectively. Parent and Peer Factors as Predictors of Self-Efficacy to Limit Sexual Behavior We used stepwise multiple regression to examine parent and peer factors as predictors of adolescent self-report to limit sexual behavior. We carried out separate analyses for boys and girls. For boys, only peer norms (b ¼ .23) remained as a predictor of self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior. The model accounted for 5% of the variance for self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior. For girls, peer norms (b ¼ .36) and perception of parental pride (b ¼ .31) remained as predictors of self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior. The model accounted for 27% of the variance in self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior.
Table 1. Correlations between parent and peer attitudes toward sex with adolescent outcomes Attitudes toward sex
Parents care about abstinence Parents proud of abstinence I was informed that I shouldn’t engage in any sexual behavior. I was told that I should wait to have sex until I was married. Peer attitudes toward sex. How many of your friends have had sexual intercourse? a b
p < .05. p < .01.
Self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior
Sexual behavioral intentions
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
.11 .23a .02
.26b .42b .27b
.00 .21a .01
.09 .45b .14
.07 .05 .00
.30 .06 .13
.26b
.09
.09
.11
.46b .18
.51b .05
.22a .03
.37b .06
.34b
.20
.37b .25a
.15 .05
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Adolescent Sexual Behavior Parent and Peer Factors as Predictors of Sexual Behavioral Intentions We entered parent and peer factors into a multivariate logistic regression analysis with sexual behavioral intentions as the outcome. We carried out separate analyses for boys and girls. For boys, peer norms (OR ¼ .46, p < .01) and self-report of being told to wait until marriage (OR ¼ .28, p < .05) to have sex was significantly associated with sexual behavioral intentions. For girls, none of the variables were significantly related to sexual behavioral intentions.
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Adolescent Attitudes Toward Sex and Self-Efficacy to Limit Sexual Behavior as Predictors of Intention to Have Vaginal Sex We entered attitudes toward sex and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior into a multivariate logistic regression with intentions to have vaginal sex in the next year. For both genders, attitudes toward sex (boys: OR ¼ .17, girls: OR ¼ .06, both ps < .001) and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior (boys: OR ¼ 2.35, girls: OR ¼ 3.07, both ps < .05) significantly predicted intentions to have sex. To examine the influence of attitudes and self-efficacy on intentions to have sex above that of parent and peer attitude variables, we carried out the analysis a second time, with parent and peer attitudes entered in the first step of a hierarchical multivariate logistic regression. For boys, attitudes toward sex (OR ¼ .23, p < .01) and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior (OR ¼ 2.56, p < .05) remained as predictors of intentions to have sex after controlling for parent and peer attitude variables. For girls, their perception of whether their parents cared whether they remained abstinent was a significant covariate in the analysis. Only attitudes toward sex (OR ¼ .11, p < .01) remained as a significant predictor of intentions to have sex for girls.
Discussion Using constructs from the theory of planned behavior, this study examined the relative influence of parents and peers on adolescent attitudes toward sex, self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior and behavioral intentions to have sex. The theory posits that subjective norms (perception of beliefs held by important others) and attitudes (individual held opinions of the behavior) are proximal causes of behavioral intentions, and behavioral intentions are proximal causes of behavioral outcomes. Adolescent subjective norms for parent and peer attitude were assessed. Adolescent selfreport of parental pride and caring for remaining abstinent and adolescent report of being told not to engage in any sexual behavior or waiting to have sex after marriage during parent–child sex communication were conceptualized as parental subjective norms. Adolescent self-report of their friend’s attitude toward sex and their perception of the number of their friends that have had intercourse were conceptualized as peer subjective norms. The individual’s propensity to engage in a behavior is either enhanced or hindered by their perception of their ability to control their
behavior (perceived behavioral control). Self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior served as a proxy for perceived behavioral control. Examining the relationships of the variables within the context of the theory of planned behavior provides several different insights on the sexual socialization process as well as interventions to improve sexual outcomes of adolescents. The Role of Parent and Peer Subjective Norms on Attitudes Toward Sex Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed that subjective norms of parents and peers are related to adolescent attitudes toward sex. In the present study, two topics discussed during parent–child sex communication as indicators of parental subjective norms were examined. There were gender differences based on the topic discussed. For girls, discussion with parents on ‘‘not to engage in any sexual behavior’’ was associated with less positive attitudes toward having sex. For boys, discussion of ‘‘wait to have sex until married’’ was associated with less positive attitudes toward having sex. The differences in the relations for these variables may be based on the parental sexual socialization that focuses on abstinence for girls. For example, research has found that a larger percentage of girls have discussed topics related to remaining abstinent during parent–child sex communication (Sneed et al., 2013). Multivariate analysis found that being to ‘‘wait to have sex until married to have’’ remained as a predictor of attitudes toward sex for both genders. In addition, direct messages parents to remain abstinent or limit sexual behavior are associated with a lower chance that the adolescent is sexually experienced (Aspy et al., 2007; Hovell et al., 1994; Sneed, 2008). The analyses revealed stronger relations between the perceptions of peer attitudes on adolescent attitudes toward sex than that of parents. This study examined indicators of peer subjective norms through observation of peer sexual behavior and child–peer conversations about sex. On the basis of the topics discussed, peer attitudes toward sex were directly related to engagement in risky sexual behaviors in both genders in the present study. For both genders, perception of negative peer attitudes toward sex influences was associated with attitudes toward sex. These negative perceptions include abstinence, intentions to remain abstinent, delay of sexual debut, fewer episodes of sexual intercourse, and fewer sex partners. There were no gender differences based on the topics discussed. Both boys and girls who believed their peers held negative attitudes toward sex also held negative attitudes toward sex. Behavioral Intentions to Have Vaginal Intercourse For both genders, analyses revealed that self-efficacy in limiting sexual behavior and their attitudes toward sex were predictors of behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse in the next year. As noted earlier, self-efficacy was used as a proxy for perceived behavioral control from the theory of planned behavior. These findings provide support for the importance of perceived behavioral control in the
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theory of planned behavior. Further analyses were carried out with adolescent subjective norms of parents and peer attitude toward sex. For boys, the findings did not change; male attitudes toward sex and self-efficacy to limit sexual behavior remained as predictors of behavioral intentions to have sex. Thus, the findings for boys are inconclusive on determining whether parents or peers play a more important role in influencing male decisions to have vaginal intercourse. For girls, the analysis revealed that their perception of what their parents thought about their sexual behavior remained as a significant covariate, where as their perception of the peers attitudes toward sex did not. This finding seems to indicate that parents may play a more important role than that of peers in female adolescent behavioral intentions to have vaginal intercourse. Limitations Several limitations need to be taken into consideration in evaluating the results of this study. First, this study was cross-sectional and thus cause-and-effect relations are hard to discern. Second, we useed adolescent self-reports to assess all variables; therefore, it is hard to determine whether adolescents’ perceptions of parents and peers are accurate. Third, participants in this study were solicited from youth service organizations in southern California, and this population may not be representative of all adolescents. Thus, it is not known whether these findings are generalizable to youth in alternative settings.
Funding This research was supported by funds from the University wide AIDS Research Program of the University of California, Grant# KOO-LA-079.
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